The development and commercial availability of gate turn-off devices capable of handling relatively large power levels has resulted in a significant change in power conversion technology. For example, thyristors are now rarely used in force-commutated systems. To a large extent, the thyristor current source inverter has been replaced by GTO and transistor voltage source inverters at power ratings up to 1 megawatt (MW). The voltage source inverter is particularly attractive because of its extremely simple power structure and the need for only six uni-directional gate turn-off devices (for three-phase load power). The anti-parallel diodes required across each of the gate turn-off devices are typically provided by the manufacturer in the same device package for minimum lead inductance and ease of assembly. The control strategy for such voltage source inverters is reasonably simple and provides a fully regenerative interface between the DC source and the AC load.
Despite the clear advantages of the voltage source inverter structure, the inherent characteristics of available gate turn-off devices imposes several limitations on the performance of the inverters. For example, the high switching losses encountered in such inverters mandates the use of low switching frequencies, resulting in low amplifier bandwidth and poor load current waveform fidelity (unwanted harmonics). The rapid change of voltage with time on the output of the inverter generates interference due to capacitive coupling. The parallel diode reverse recovery and snubber interactions cause high device stresses under regeneration conditions. In turn, the need to withstand the high device stresses reduces reliability and requires that the devices be overspecified. The relatively low switching frequencies required has also been observed to cause an acoustic noise problem because the switching frequency harmonics in the output power generate noise at audible frequencies in the switching system and motor. And, in general, present inverter designs have poor regeneration capability into the AC supply line, poor AC input line harmonics, requiring large DC link and AC side filters, and have poor fault recovery characteristics.
Ideally, a power converter should have essentially zero switching losses, a switching frequency greater than about 18 kHz (above the audible range), small reactive components and the ability to transfer power bi-directionally. The system should also be insensitive to second order parameters such as diode recovery times, device turn-off characteristics and parasitic reactive elements. It is clear that present voltage source inverter designs do not achieve such optimum converter characteristics.
It is apparent that a substantial increase in inverter switching frequency would be desirable to minimize the lower order harmonics in pulse width modulated inverters. Higher switching frequencies have the accompanying advantages of higher current regulator bandwidth, smaller reactive component size and, for frequencies above 18 kHz, acoustic noise which is not perceptible to humans. Increases in pulse width modulated inverter switching frequencies achieved in the last several years (from about 500 Hz to 2 kHz for supplies rated from 1 to 25 kW) have generally been accomplished because of improvements in the speed and ratings of the newer devices. An alternative approach is to modify the switching circuit structure to make best use of the characteristics of available devices.
One well-established approach is the use of snubber networks which protect the devices by diverting switching losses away from the device itself. The most popular snubber configuration is a simple circuit structure in which a small inductor provides turn-on protection while a shunt diode and capacitor across the device provide a polarized turn-off snubber. A resistor connected across the inductor and diode provides a dissipative snubber discharge path. Although the advantages of the use of snubbers in transistor inverters are well-known, packaging problems and the cost of the additional snubber components has made their commercial use infrequent. For GTO inverters, on the other hand, the snubber is absolutely essential for device protection and is often crucial for reliable and successful inverter design. While snubbers adequately alleviate device switching losses, the total switching losses do not change appreciably when losses in the snubber are considered, and can actually increase from the losses experienced in circuits unprotected by snubbers under certain operating conditions. Thus, the increases in inverter switching frequency which have been obtained with the use of snubbers carry a serious penalty in terms of overall system efficiency.
Another alternative is a resonant mode converter employing a high frequency resonant circuit in the power transfer path. Two distinct categories of resonant inverters can be identified. The first category, of which induction heating inverters and DC/DC converters are examples, accomplish control of the power transfer through a modulation of the inverter switching frequency. For these circuits, the frequency sensitive impedance of the resonant tank is the key to obtaining a variable output. While it is also possible to synthesize low frequency AC waveforms using such frequency modulation principles, complexity of control, the large number of switching devices required, and the relatively large size of the resonant components limits the applications for such circuit structures.
The second type of resonant converter, sometimes referred to as a high frequency link converter, typically uses naturally commutated converters and cycloconverters with a high frequency AC link formed of a resonant LC tank circuit. The high frequency link converters are capable of AC/AC or DC/AC conversion with bi-directional power flow and adjustability of the power factor presented to the AC supply. In contrast to the frequency modulation scheme of the first category of converters, the link frequency is not particularly important and output AC waveform synthesis is done through modulation of the output stage. For naturally commutated switching devices, phase angle control is ordinarily used. The high frequency link converter is generally capable of switching at frequencies greater than 18 kHz using available devices at the multi-kilowatt power level. However, the technology has not been economically competitive and has not been widely used industrially for variable speed drive type applications. This may be attributed to several factors. In particular, the large number of bi-directional high speed, high power switches required must be realized using available uni-directional devices. For example, as many as thirty-six thyristors may be required in addition to a excitation inverter in some configurations. The recovery characteristics of the devices used often necessitate the addition of snubber networks, lowering the efficiency of the overall system. In addition, the LC resonant circuit handles the full load power which is transferred from input to output and has large circulating currents, e.g., often up to six times the load current. Consequently, even though the total energy stored in the system is small, the volt-ampere rating of the resonant elements is quite high. Furthermore, control of such systems is extremely complex given the simultaneous tasks of input and output control, high frequency bus regulation, and thyristor commutation for circuits employing naturally commutated thyristors.